Bushmaster rifle legal in NY state

The military-style rifle Adam Lanza reportedly used to kill 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., is legal in New York and can be bought in sporting-goods stores, despite a state ban on assault weapons.

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By CHRIS MCKENNA

recordonline.com

By CHRIS MCKENNA

Posted Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By CHRIS MCKENNA
Posted Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

The military-style rifle Adam Lanza reportedly used to kill 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., is legal in New York and can be bought in sporting-goods stores, despite a state ban on assault weapons.

The Bushmaster M4 semiautomatic rifle has a pistol grip and detachable ammunition clip, which are two criteria for the sort of firearms state law prohibits. Yet an ordinary citizen can still buy such a gun because it lacks any other feature that meets the definition of an assault weapon.

Indeed, a flier for the outdoors retailer Gander Mountain recently advertised a version of the Bushmaster rifle on sale for $900. That gun comes with a magazine that holds up to 10 bullets; the gun used in Connecticut reportedly had a 30-round magazine.

State Assembly Democrats have been trying in vain since 2004 to expand New York's definition of assault weapons. The Democratic-dominated chamber has overwhelmingly passed the proposal five times since 2005, but it has died each time because no senator — Democrat or Republican — has even introduced the same measure in the Senate.

The Bushmaster M4 would be considered a banned assault weapon under that bill.

Kingston Democrat Kevin Cahill, one of only two Assembly members from this region to support the measure, described himself Monday as someone with "a foot in both camps" on gun-control legislation, given the strong hunting tradition and support for gun owners' rights in his district.

In this instance, he argued, the proposed rules amounted to "reasonable regulations to protect the public." He recalls opponents arguing that the rules had been written too broadly and being asked by the bill's sponsor to suggest ways to make them more palatable.

Cahill voted for the bill each time. Frank Skartados, D-Milton, did so as well in 2009, shortly after joining the Assembly.

Voting against the bill all five times from 2005 to 2009 were Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove; Aileen Gunther, D-Forestburgh; and Annie Rabbitt, R-Greenwood Lake. The late Tom Kirwan, a Newburgh Republican, also consistently opposed the legislation.

Matthew Titone, the Staten Island Democrat sponsoring the proposal, said Monday that while he doesn't want to infringe on the recreational use of rifles, he sees no reason for sportsmen to have the type of gun used in the Newtown school shootings.

He said he has tweaked the language several times to accommodate Republicans' request, but has "yet to hear anything substantive" in opposition. He said he hadn't pushed to find a Senate sponsor, but plans to do so when lawmakers return to Albany in January.